Veinous drain tube



Jame 935 F. M. JAMES VEINOUS DRAIN TUBE Filed June 8, 1935 Patented June2, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2 Claims.

This invention relates to veinous drain tubes employed by morticians fordraining blood from the body preparatory to embalming. The generalobject of the invention is to provide means for obviating the necessityof completely removing the tube when a blood clot appears in the veins,which, under the old method necessitated the entire removal of the tubeand its reinsertion into the vein.

Another object of the invention is to so form the device that in mostcases the clot can be removed very easily and quickly through means of aplunger and an expanding end on the tube.

This invention also consists in certain other features of constructionand in the combination and arrangement of several parts, to behereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawing andspecifically pointed out in the appended claims.

In describing the invention in detail, reference will be had to theaccompanying drawing wherein like characters denote like orcorresponding parts throughout the several views, and in which:

Figure l is an elevation of the invention with the prongs expanded andthe parts in operative position.

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the parts in positionready for insertion into the veins.

Figure 3 is a section on the line 33 of Figure 2.

In this drawing the numeral l indicates the tube having the nipple 2connected therewith adjacent its outer end for receiving a hose and theother end of the tube is provided with a plurality of longitudinallyextending slits which form the prongs 3 which are so made that theynormally expand as shown in Figure l. A plunger rod 4 is adapted to beinserted into the tube and has the piston 5 adjacent its inner end and asubstantially semi-spherical head 6 on the inner end, the extremities ofthe prongs being rounded to conform to the head as shown at 1. A handle8 is connected with the outer end of the rod or stem for operating theplunger.

A sleeve 9 has a sliding fit on the tube and the outer part of thesleeve is formed with the enlargement I0 which acts as a hand hold, anda nut I0 is threaded on the outer end of the tube to form a hand hold.

The sleeve 9 is pushed inwardly or downwardly to the position shown inFigure 2 when the device is to be inserted into a vein. As it will beseen the tube with the sleeve in this position will have its prongscontracted so that the device can be readily inserted into the vein.After the device has been inserted the sleeve is pulled back to theposition shown in Figure 1 which permits these prongs to expand in thevein and the plunger is retracted to permit the blood to flow throughthe device. When a blood clot appears in the vein and passes between theprongs and stops the flow of blood to the tube, the plunger is pushedinwardly and then pulled out to draw the clot through the tube thusclearing it. Under the old method where the tube is not provided withthe expanding prongs the clot would never have entered the tubetherefore clogging the entrance to the tube and necessitating completeremoval and reinsertion.

If for any reason the plunger will not remove the obstruction, thesleeve can be pushed down to the position shown in Figure 2 and then thetube and the plunger may be removed from the sleeve, leaving only thesleeve inserted in the vein. Then the rubber drain tube is attacheddirectly to the sleeve and this will remove the most obstinate clots,though under all ordinary and usual conditions use of the plunger issufficient.

It is thought from the foregoing description that the advantages andnovel features of the invention will be readily apparent.

It is to be understood that changes may be made in the construction andin the combination and arrangement of the several parts, provided thatsuch changes fall within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In an embalming instrument, an elongated 30 tube havinglongitudinally extending slits in one end portion thereof to provideexpanding prongs, the ends of the prongs curving inwardly, and anelongated sleeve slidably arranged on the tube for contracting theprongs, the slitted portion of the tube being of the same diameter asthe rest of the tube when the prongs are contracted, said sleeve beingof the same internal diameter throughout, whereby the tube can be pulledfrom the sleeve to permit one end of the sleeve to remain in a vein.

2. In an embalming instrument, an elongated tube having longitudinallyextending slits in one end portion thereof to provide expanding prongs,the ends of the prongs curving inwardly, and an elongated sleeveslidably arranged on the tube for contracting the prongs, the slittedportion of the tube being of the same diameter as the rest of the tubewhen the prongs are contracted, and the tube being capable of beingwithdrawn from the sleeve to permit one end of the sleeve to remain in avein after withdrawal of the tube from the vein, and a plunger slidablyarranged in the tube and including a stem, and a piston connected to oneend of the stem and being rounded to conform to the rounded ends of theprongs, when the prongs are contracted.

FLOYD M. JAMES.

